Eric's Weekly Update 10-19-12

posted Oct 19, 2012, 11:29 AM by Cynthia Friedman

This week… We had a good week with a lot of discussion about early American history, particularly in the Northeast. We learned about the Iroquois and their dealings with the French then Dutch, the British, and finally the American colonists. The nations comprising the Iroquois were eventually torn apart by the constant warring among the European nations and their land-grabbing policies. In the end a once proud and powerful federation was left destitute and broken. Our study of the Native Americans will not have a happy ending, as the events among the Iroquois will be played out the same way from one coast to the other. I feel that this history needs to be made clear as we study these early American Indian nations.Each student has chosen a Native American tribe from the Northeast or Southeast US to research. They will then prepare a presentation to share with the class based on that tribe or nation. Students will receive more instruction in the classroom about how this is to proceed and I will send the same information home for you to review. In zoology we studied the acronym MRSGREF and how it applies to all living things. Perhaps your student can remember what the letters stand for.

Next week and beyond…Next week we have a mild slow down in the schedule as we prepare to deal with the excitement of Halloween. The effects of this fun celebration are hard to contain so I don’t try. We will only try to share some of the history and fun. I will plan on our annual Pumpkin Hunt at the park (likely Tugman) probably at the end of next week or early in the week of the 29th. I say “probably” because it will depend on the weather. We have been lucky so far. We will walk there and back, so please make sure your student is dressed appropriately for the weather during this period. If there is a parent or two who would like to hide the pumpkins and watch over them until we arrive, I would really appreciate it. Please let me know if you are willing and able to help out. Stay for a treat and the fun if you would likeJ. On the academic side, we will be discussing the formation of the earth with some functional geography charts and also the law of inertia as well as more Native American studies.

A super BIG thank you goes out to our faithful classroom reader volunteers! We appreciate your efforts so muchJ Eric and Adriene